East Pasco pitching duel favors Pirates

For Zephyrhills coach Bruce Cimorelli, the pain of a 3-1 loss Wednesday night to rival Pasco was offset by pride. Lots of it.

"I thought we stood toe to toe with them," he said.

Throw to throw would be more accurate.

Before arguably the season's biggest crowd at Pasco's Death Valley, Pirates senior right-hander Aaron Brandt and Bulldogs sophomore righty Tyler Guy waged a brisk pitching duel, combining to allow only eight hits. The decisive one, ironically enough, was provided by a face all too familiar to the 'Dogs.

Zephyrhills transfer Dylan Giella, wielding one of the area's hottest bats since moving to the leadoff spot, provided the game-winning RBI with a fifth-inning double, and later scored the insurance run.

"I'm not gonna lie...it felt pretty good," said Giella, adding he left Zephyrhills on good terms. "I knew they weren't going to come out here and lay down. I knew it was going to be a tough game. They gave us everything we wanted."

Giella's winning hit ruined a three-hitter by Guy, and snapped the resurgent Bulldogs' (11-5, 9-4) three-game win streak. Pasco (13-1, 11-1) now has a two-game lead over Nature Coast (10-3, 9-3) in the Class 4A, District 8 race with four district contests to play.

More important for now, it also has right-handed ace Dustin Brown well-rested for Thursday's conference showdown at Land O'Lakes, although Pasco will be playing for the third time in as many nights.

Complete-game wins by Henry Johnson and Brandt on consecutive nights made that possible. On Wednesday, Brandt (4-1) threw only 86 pitches, fanning four.

"I think we're one of the only teams in the county that could pull that off," said Giella, whose club finishes a four-day, four-game grind Friday at Wiregrass Ranch.

"With Aaron and Dustin throwing, you know what you're going to get from them. Henry threw great (Tuesday) night (against Nature Coast). ... We're probably one of the only teams in the county that can pull off this stretch of games and be okay with pitching."

Comments

[Dogonit]

Giella might say it felt good but it can't feel as good as it would have if he would have stayed at ZHS and helped his team beat Pasco. It's easy to leave and join a good team. It means a lot more to help the team you've been with become a good team. If Giella would've stayed a Bulldog last night might have been different. I guess he got his wish though. He finally was on the winning team of a ZHS-PHS game. Good for him.